novelraw Chapter 160
Chapter 160
Chapter 160
Crushed by the collapsing house, the girl heard the trickling sound of water.
What was I doing again?
Her memories were muddled, and her vision was hazy.
Her head, as if melted in lukewarm water, slowly began to awaken.
The girl snapped to and sat upright.
She lifted the rubble, stood up, and called back the dragon.
In her line of sight was the black legion.
At the head of it stood a figure clad in alabaster holy armor.
A hero wielding an evil spear in the right hand and a light-powered machine gun in the left.
Though an abnormal figure, the presence exuded the aura of a fierce warrior.
The face peeking from the armor was not that of a human.
Black and moist, with no eyes. The exposed blade radiated malice. It was almost alien in its creepiness—there was no doubt it wasn't human.
The girl pressed her throbbing cheek.
Her cheekbone was shattered, and her mouth felt gritty.
A puddle had formed from a broken water pipe.
She scooped up the submerged naginata with her foot and picked it up.
Gripping it as if to affirm the weapon's weight, she regretted underestimating her enemy.
I'm going to seriously kill you now.
The girl's gaze changed.
The elegant girl was no longer there.
"Ahh, this feels good—it's starting to feel really good."
The girl was remembering the past.
The pain of being hit reminded her of the days when she lost all feeling for her old home.
The girl didn't remember the era she was born in very well.
She felt like it was during wartime... and also maybe not.
That was because she was a manufactured human.
A secret society in Taiwan pursuing immortality—'Ryusen Society'.
That's where she was cultured.
There was a project to create the Priestess of Ryusen.
A cruel plan to produce clones and use them as vessels for the elders of the society.
Delicate girls were designed for that purpose.
Countless trials and errors were repeated, and the best clones were mass-produced.
The vessel didn't need emotions.
Yet, made in human form, emotions inevitably took root.
Ryusen Priestess 003 had her emotions erased over the span of a year.
Through primitive means, girls with the same face were made to kill each other.
Toys for adults, they completed the bleaching of emotions as planned.
A raging fire of fury, humiliation, and boiling revenge.
Scars that summoned storms awakened her—eventually, the Ryusen Priestess became a dragon.
The dragon descended from the sky.
The Black Fingertips each dodged to get out of the attack range.
It crashed straight into the ground like a meteor.
The dragon snapped up the girl and swallowed her whole as it landed.
"Ggah, Ogogoh!"
The eerie roar echoed across the scenery of Kyoto.
The dragon's size gradually began to shrink.
When it had shrunk to about five meters in length, another transformation occurred.
The dragon sprouted arms and legs.
It had taken the form known as a half-human, half-dragon.
On its face was the same aura the girl had just before being devoured.
It was a dragon's face, but unmistakably that of the girl—the Ryusen Priestess.
It was the effect of the skill 'Dragonkin'.
By fusing with familiar monsters summoned via skill, she could wield even greater abilities.
That form was proof of the Ryusen Priestess's curse upon her loathsome past.
It was also her right to revel in the freedom she had in exchange for the dignity stolen at the 'Ryusen Society'.
She could never forget the scent of blood soaked into her.
That's why she kills.
To offer sacrifices for the madness of White Night, who took her in from the Ryusen Society.
Everything is for him.
"White Night-samaaa, I have a new sacrifice now——"
She caught the falling naginata.
Both grip and blade began to grow rapidly.
In both length and thickness, it became a mighty weapon worthy of a dragonkin soaring the skies.
"Now, let me sweep you away."
The Ryusen Priestess, brimming with confidence and unleashing her surging destructive impulse, sliced through the nearby Breakdancers among the Black Fingertips.
Black liquid splattered, and chunks of flesh slapped against the wall.
The Black Swamp monster was cleaved in two with a single strike and died instantly.
Next, the Ryusen Priestess cloaked herself in thunder and wind.
With gales fierce enough to turn bodies into meat, she swept the area clean.
Breakdancers and the Black Tank within range shattered without resistance.
Drunk on the pleasure of releasing her destructive urges, the dragon laughed wildly.
Then, turning to the main dish, she licked her lips with a flick of her tongue.
"Freakish underling, you are no longer a threat."
The Ryusen Priestess turned to face the captain of the Black Fingertips.
She opened her mouth wide and released a breath of lightning pouring forth.
Just then.
A sharp pain shot through the inside of the Ryusen Priestess's mouth.
"Geh, geh!" She coughed violently, cutting off the dragon breath.
Instead, she spat out a spray of blood.
The captain had been firing loosely with the salvation machine gun granted by his master.
The way he held the machine gun with one arm seemed mocking, and the Ryusen Priestess twitched her brow and trembled her fine beard.
"Are you mocking me......?!"
The Ryusen Priestess leapt, charged with excitement and irritation.
She swung her naginata with all her might, putting all two tons of her weight into the strike aimed at the captain.
The captain showed no sign of dodging.
He put away the machine gun and held the Twisted Black Spear horizontally.
The captain caught the naginata with the flat of the thin spear.
Gachin. Heavy metal clanged with sparks flying.
The captain's feet sank into the ground up to his knees.
The overhead strike of the Ryusen Priestess and the captain's brute strength were evenly matched.
No—it couldn't be called evenly matched.
The Ryusen Priestess had used momentum and weight to slam down the blow.
The captain, without bending his knees, had stopped it with sheer arm strength while standing perfectly still.
The Ryusen Priestess realized.
She still couldn't measure up——
"Guoooooh!"
She activated the skill 'Dragon Thunder'.
A finishing move that could only be used four times a day.
Lightning crashed down on the back of her naginata, and the blade, empowered by divine strike, was forcibly driven in.
She intended to cut through the spear as well.
However, she couldn't break the Twisted Black Spear, the pride of the Black Swamp's Hero.
Instead, the captain's foothold gave way under the force.
That meant a fall into the foundation's underground shelter.
The citizens' screams rang out again, louder than before.
Fortunately, the citizens had evacuated to the corner of the shelter, so there was no risk of being caught in the ceiling collapse.
The ceiling of the shelter fell along with them, and a massive cloud of dust rose.
Cutting through the dust with her shoulder, the Ryusen Priestess charged at the captain.
The flowing flurry of her naginata was deflected, parried, and stopped.
She attacked again and again.
With all her strength, she poured every technique she had into it.
The captain, as if confirming each movement, overwhelmed the Ryusen Priestess with masterful spearwork.
That was because he had received one order from his master.
It was, "Practice especially on the small fry——"
This was due to Jigokudo pointing out that he needed to learn to control his strength.
The proposal to accumulate learning and experience points was made to reduce collateral damage.
However, training to suppress his power had enabled the acquisition of refined technique.
As a result, the trained monster became stronger.
It wasn't by chance.
Learning and growth are the greatest abilities of the Black Swamp monsters.
All Black Swamp monsters hone their techniques on various battlefields, train, and grow with each life-or-death struggle.
That's why they are an end-of-the-world script capable of destroying the world.
The captain learned much from the Ryusen Priestess.
After about ten minutes, she was no longer needed.
"Kuh! Gaaoh! Guaaaah!"
Letting out a roar, the Ryusen Priestess launched a brave attack.
The captain deflected her blade and quickly thrust his spear five times in succession.
In a flash of strikes too fast to see, the dragon's belly was riddled with holes.
The captain swiftly took distance with a backstep.
For the finishing blow, the Twisted Black Spear was thrown.
The aim was flawless—Sure Hit and certain death.
Shrouded in murky brilliance, it left a trail as it flew straight ahead.
The supersonic thrown spear pierced and destroyed the dragon's faltering heart.
The impact shockwave shook the entire shelter.
Everything settled down.
The dragon, pierced by the spear, lay limp and unmoving.
The captain took out a lighter.
Particles of light overflowed from the Ryusen Priestess and were collected into the lighter.
After finishing the collection, the captain raised his hand, and the spear that had killed the dragon rose into the air as if it had a will of its own and whooshed back into his hand.
Applause and cheers erupted from the citizens.
Everyone had witnessed the fierce battle between the dark Hero and the dragon.
In the midst of the thunderous applause, the captain turned to leave, then suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He remembered his master's command.
'"Bring back aaaall the loot you can get your hands on, okay?" (Creepy grin)'
'"Gii" (Translation: 'That's what he said. Please do it.')'
The captain scooped up the naginata with his foot and handed it to one of his subordinates.
Once their job was done, the black army returned to the battlefield.
"Nyaa~"
Upon returning to the surface, the Norwegian Bakeneko had disabled two synthetic humans.
"You... you took down that dragon woman...?"
Once again covered in wounds, Bradley looked down at the dragon's corpse through the collapsed hole at his feet.
(Was he really this strong...? No, wait a second...)
Bradley recalled that the familiar monsters before him were only a few of many under the Finger Man.
Cold sweat began to break out.
He realized that a humanity-level threat, one that couldn't be countered even with all of humanity's strength, was under the control of the urban legend known as the Finger Man.
"You've got to be kidding me, Finger Man."
Bradley had the feeling that he wouldn't be getting a good night's sleep for a long time.
The captain gave a thumbs-up.
(Is he trying to comfort me or what...? Does this guy even have emotions? No, there's no point overthinking it.)
"Leave this place to me, familiar monsters of the Finger Man. He'll need your strength. Go on, get moving."
The captain gave Bradley's shoulder a light pat and, leading the Black Swamp monsters, whooshed up into the sky.
"...Maybe it's about time I retired."
"Nyaa~!?"
Stroking the Norwegian Bakeneko, Bradley wore a face full of melancholy.